Life-saving device for use in submarines.



H. F. WILSON.

LIFE SAVING DEVICE FOR use IN SUBMARINES. APPLICATION FILED FEB. H, 1915.

1,177,372. Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Inventor.

W Ma /Z4, M/M.. 7 W

THE COLUMBIA PLAlgOnRAPl-l c0., WASHINGTON, n. c.

. H. F. WILSON; v LIFE SAVING DEVICE FOR USE IN SUBMARINES.

APPLICATION FILE-D FEB. H, i915- 1,177,372. Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a h i l l i Inventor.

THE coLuMnm ruNoanAPl-l co., \vAsmNnTON. D. c

" mhmrzt N TED STATESPATENT O I E,

WILSQN, 0F rhhhm rqh,

L'l'EE-SAV'ING DEVICE FOR; SE INSUBMA'RI-NES;

h it may-c m w 13?: t mqwm hat HERBERT Q D- Wit: .0m snbiehtof th n Of Gr at B ain, residing at NO. 25 Hewlett Place, Paddingt n, 11:. the thuh r .Q Mitld sm. n l nd. hgye invented. certain new and useful In1. nm em n e Li e-SZW I g D es: for; 11 Submar nes f i h; he; tqllqw h s; specification. V

T -his inven tien relates to idejrides wherebypersqns may be released from submerged submarine boats, when disabled from certain causes of the kind in which a chamber i mployed av n mea s ingress o a PensQh wm h t im o y h v ssel; and: mea s Qf; ss; e; h mm ng-l Water o; ha he, p t hn, n t th mbtr may eethp ;th r trqmmethsh o ei o ded; here y h a e which en s hev hem: beris-nemoved therefrpm to the exterior,

T e. in bje ofhe sh i h nt hn, s p p de ot rapid rt hht l of e wi htf h -v he ha b nd he Said n nt hh hs. .st$,- s nt al yah ia g ng ht pit lt hin h aid hamb r which P ston may be repiprocatecl to ea use the water which, has entered t qp simm thechamhttihtq he surro ndin a eh.

' T e; a d. li e ihn. she eihh ter, ttt hhe hhtlyflhsct he w th. ne renqe 9, hh. 3. 60111 m ymg dm ings; liih iil u ate 1 i 09:

ehient embqchmeht; e sa li -vehtbm 1 F g ral Q the a d dra n s is it lo tudinztl vertical sectign of a portien of a, submarine beat; illustrating the aforesaid life savingdevice partly in section and par ly n ide View, 1 a e on t-ken appr ima y- 011 h ine AA- iglooking toward the left of that figureand Fig. 3 is pla n view.

In the following description the partso f the said figuresare referred to by the num s rked h re n he ame; me al re erence, nd ca ngth i am P in l he-fi u e 1 is the aforesaid chamber or reqeptaele tewe btlow he- 11 .9 i of he, b y 01 the s hmer hehhh e sa hamhhh e ng ylindr al nternall n o en; t. n end 2 an c qst t" th the end by a hih ed' oo sthin he h m t 1 Dis 4h is a -ran d h ting a: p ston: 9d 5 th ough Stu ng: box 6 ur d; o h; '7' f.atece. 8 01 th t. t p nd 9911.

h nihh hl it-h thetihh mheh l h r t .ODen

nd The aist isthh .isienthet:

Speeifiea'tion of Letters Patent; PatentedMar, 285 19113. ph tfiti fi lihhi fz l 3 5- .ee th mehgr,

'Stmvorted y he,fihsi..hehtih and; has: ht rhd; ,215 pph i If; t -1@ Y-Q f l. l fiw h i r Wellt;- thotheth hhh lth. The saidv piston t, which is illnstrgxtgthst t tha h r mma t ellya; PIQViC Qd w t tui hhl meh h h d with n hle hn lspri gv el t: lh 'lEhhhW h-Phht Q thecham-r 1h h-si a hhmh h ndi optn hgteutwh llr Qt suitable: hashing .llltl't tl etween, e

eh h he phtt tht t h tldh he the Qhhmh nr J 1h tdeh ha the; fleets %13 25W he open heihdit thd: bQ 1.l; h 2 re ss s 5; a e QlIQ9- l: t ev ho t h e tth,. hh he-hoht de a h --s h h -v 4t 1.9. 1.3 tweet 13hr hithtet tl b me lli tr, L 1 m hted their lqweh- 01 6 he; 41,151. o ht etrtel i" hhd h tiii-e en? steed th he r hhpe -et t sct tut 9", 9 en ged ttsnhq ite x w th e-ht in eft-l V V Thesit 1 lQQr --15h 3 h te 0 hhn i eed enahts 1 lh h h 20 is: rotatable tqo thed;bevel? 9, 1 71 1% Mid t Sha 2212 6 t OthB E hr Stele tt h o hh th n: hh u mar e hohth tu ng e 2 ng P i l dm; itlthe! part Whete he shetfitfi? hhse t i he n teriqntp the enter io' r The, rack l0,-0n the,

piston rocl mes heswith a t oqth efcl wh eelgfi lr yhh; hrough the h ae to an els his: f 2 he, vth 1; emotio -72 43 tfw llfiefi ting e. mi t htthm nt of- ;t suitable lgi ncl are pip tided eahibinnf t me t hh Qt hem whe b 'dhu h 15-. -'e;- determihe l; nect thhrlimi Qt h In ment- -tlfiithfih dirhct hh Qt thi pin s QlEh-I tes b them h lQtQF-E' tllfi m -fii ly l? u erd, ee; 9; he; 120 time ihhh' rs: t li i h fi llz w i 28; is awith: the r chamberl near its door end and at its other end with a tank within the submarine the said pipe being provided witha valve 29' whereby water may be allowed to flow from. the chamber 1 when necessary or desirable.

as .hereinafterreferred to. r

30 1s a spring push piece operable from within the chamber to set in motion the motor 24 for opening the doors 12, 13 as also hereinafter referred to.

'31" is an insertion of glass in-thewall of the chamber 1 and forming part thereof, for observation use. V

The devicehereinbefore described is used. as follows: The piston 4 and doors 12, 13 are normally in the positions shown in full lines in the accompanying drawings and the valve 29 closed and assuming that'the sub marine boat-is submerged and for some unforeseen reason cannot rise to the surface, in order that the persons imprisoned therein may escape therefrom and rise through the water above, the motor 27 is first set in motion in a direction proper to rotate the toothed wheel '26 so that it operates the toothed rack 10 toward the right hand of Fig. 1 thereby causing the said'piston to move in the same direction and clear the body of the chamber 1 from'water which on submersion of the submarine boat has entered it through the passage 8 andopen end- 2 the said motor being automatically stopped by the cut out arrangements hereinbefore referred to when the piston at is near the said open end. The person who is to be set free having attired himself in a cork suit or buoyant covering and if necessary with some form of watertight headdress or helmet, then enters the chamber through the opening closed by the door 3 which is then secured or held if necessary against its seat.j

The other persons within the vessel, then by observation through the glass 81, learning that the person within the chamber 1 'isin a proper attitude for release set the motor 2t in action in the proper direction to oper ate the gears 23, 21 to rotate theshaft'20 so that-the nuts 19, 19 are caused to travel toward the ends of the said shaft and so through the links 18, lSlift the doors 12, 13

as indicated by the broken lines'in Fig. 2.

cape materially therefrom into the vessel because the door 3 is closed and is kept tightly on'its seat by the water pressure but the person in the water in'the chamber rises, or may lift himself through the door openingabove him into the surrounding water and is thus free to rise to the surface. When by observation through the glass 31 or by calculation it is certain that the person previously in the chamber. is free from it the. motor 27 is set in motion to move the piston 4 b k g i to the'position shownin Fig:

'1 the water in front of it passing upwardly between the open doors 12, 13 until the pis ton passes by them after which the water, in front of'the piston passes to 'itsrear through the valves 11, 11 in it until thepis-v ton is at the end of its strokewhich is'jcontrolled by the automatic cutout means here,

inbefore referred to;

and the water remaining in the space: in

frontof the piston may be drained awayby opening the valve 29in the pipe 28 "although such water being small involume comparedto the size of the chamber, is not materially prejudicial to the nextuse of the chamberil.

For releasingthe nest personthe-piston 1s caused to move backward again as before T e doors areithen closed down'by operation of the motor 24" described forcing the greater part 1 of'the; 2

water behind it through the open end 2- of the chamber 1, into and through the passage 8'. A- person then enters the chamber, the

doors-'12, 13 areopened, the person escapes and the piston is-caused to move forward and the doors 12, 13 closed in the same manner as in the case of the first person set free.-

When all the imprisoned persons have left the vessel except onethere is no one remain ing to control the operation of the motor 24' for opening the-doors 12, 13- and, therefore s after that person has entered the chamber :1 he operates the push'piece 30 for setting the motor 24 in action to open the doors.

When the vessel passes beneath the sun-- face'of the water during its ordinary evolutime water enters thechamber 1 through the space 8 and if desired provision such as a pump may be made in orderthat this water may be removed after the vessel has during its evolutions again risen to the surface.

It is preferred to provide a submarines I boat withseveral of the-chambers 1 with the operating means in; connection therewith as hereinbefor'e described so that more than, one person may be set'free'at the same time and so that if one device be disabled for any reason, means of escape are stlll available.

The number of thesaid chambers depends upon the size of the boat and the number of:

its crew but in the case of a submarine boat. i of the largest type four may be a convenient number. 1

2 By providing for removal of 'thefwater from the chamber 1 by actuationof a piston within it the said water may be rapidly and efficiently removed and by arranging it in; relation to the means'of imgress'and egress substantially as hereinbefore describedktthe meansof ingress need only be subject tO G X-f ternal pressure during the time the piston is removing water from the chamber :andYit person is entering theisamei What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is l. A life saving device for use in submarine boats consisting in the combination of a chamber, an ingress thereto for a person to be saved, an egress therefrom to the exterior of the boat for such person, a piston in said chamber and means for reciprocating said piston. V V

2. A life saving device for use in submarine boats, comprising in combination a chamber, a piston therein,means for reciprocating said piston, an ingress to said chamher for a person to be saved on one side of said piston and capable of closure, a passage for water from said chamber to the exterior of the boat on the other side of said'piston and an egress from said chamber to the exterior of the boat for the person to be saved,

said egress being in the path of reciprocation of said piston and capable of closure.

3. A life saving device for use in submarine boats comprising in combination a chamber, a piston therein, and ingress to said chamber for a person to be saved, on one side'ofsaid piston and capable of closure,apassage for Water from said chamber to the exterior of the boat on the other side of said piston, an egress from said chamber to the exterior of the boat for a'person to be saved, said egress'being in the path of reciprocation of said piston, means for closing said egress adapted when in closed position to form part of the wall of said chamber along which said piston reciprocates, and means to operate said piston in one direction to expel the water that has entered the chamber while the said egress is open and in the other direction after the egress is closed to expel the water that has followed the piston through said passage.

4. A life saving device for use in subnia rine boats comprising in combination a chamber, an entry door at one end thereof, a piston in said chamber, means for reciprocating said piston an opening at the other end of said chamber communicating with the exterior of the boat and an egress from said chamber for persons to be saved, in the path of said piston.

5. A life saving device for use in submarine boats comprising in combination a cylindrical chamber, an entry door at one end thereof giving access to the interior of said chamber from the interior piston within said chamber, means to reciprocate said piston, a communication between Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. 6..

' chamber,

of the boat, a'

the other end of said chamber and the cxterior of the boat and hinged exit doors in the Wall of said chamber forming when closed a continuation of the internal surface of the chamber along which the said piston works and in the path of reciprocation thereof. V

6. A life saving device for use in submarine boats comprising in combination a chamber, an ingress thereto for a person to be saved, an egress therefrom to the eXterior of the boat for such said chamber, piston, chamber. v

7. A life saving device for use in submarine boats comprising in combination. a an ingress'thereto for a person to be saved, an egress therefromto the exterior of the boatfor such person, a piston in said chamber, piston, and non-return valves insaid piston.

8. A life saving rine boats comprising in combination a chamber, an ingress thereto for a person to be-saved, an egress therefrom to the exterior of the boat for'such person, a piston, in said chamber, means for reciprocating said piston, and means operable within the chammeans for reciprocating said her for controlling the operation of said.

piston and the opening and closing of the egress for the person to be saved.

9. A life saving device for use in submarine boats comprising in combination a cylindrical chamber, an entry door at one end thereof giving access to the interior of said chamber from the interior of the boat, 'a piston within said chamber, means to reciprocate said piston, a communication between the other end of said chamber and the exterior of the boat, hinged exit doors in the wall of said chamber forming when closed a continuation of the internal surface of the said chamber and in the path of reciprocation thereof, a window in the wall of the said chamber, and means operable within the said chamber for controlling the operation of said piston and the opening and closing of the egress for the person to be saved.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HERBERT FORD W'ILSON.

WVitnesses: PERCY CHARLES RUsHEN, WALTER J. SKERTEN.

"Commissioner of Patents,

means for reciprocating said device for use in Submit-- person, a piston in and a Windowin the wall. of the 

